In Years Past

In 1913, the board of managers of the Warner Home for the Aged in Jamestown held its regular monthly meeting in the home on Forest Avenue, with president Mrs. Charles M. Dow presiding and Mrs. R.R. Rogers acting as secretary. The treasurer’s report was very gratifying, showing greatly increased interest by the county in the work of the home. The reports relative to the Mile of Pennies campaign were not yet all in but from those which were in, it appeared that the campaign would be successful. The committee earnestly hoped that those who still had envelopes would return them as soon as possible.

No one who joined the Chautauqua County Supervisors and town highway superintendents for the trip through Chautauqua County the past few days, stopping briefly at many of the villages, seeing the beautiful farms and vineyards, the ripening grain and the growing fruit, could have done so without a realizing sense of the splendid county in which they lived, without appreciating its natural wealth, its natural advantages and its abounding prosperity. It was a trip to inspire even the pessimist to optimism, but there were no pessimists in the party. Instead, it inspired in them a greater love of the county and a greater faith in its future than they ever had before.

In 1938, Thursday evening’s intense electrical storm took the life of 15-year-old Betty Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Milo Smith of Watts Flats, as sharp bolts of lightning struck their farmhouse a short distance from the village. The girl was said to have been standing beside the chimney inside the house at the time. It was believed that the bolt traveled down the chimney to the point where she was standing when it shot over to a steel cabinet nearby. The girl, a Lakewood High School student, had been helping her mother and two brother close windows against the rain and wind. For two hours physicians and others attempted unsuccessfully to resuscitate the girl.

Forty of the 50 milk dealers who supplied Jamestown with 95 percent of the milk consumed here had lodged a formal protest with federal authorities against the proposal to construct a municipal milk plant with the aid of government funds. The price of milk was lower in Jamestown than in any other New York state city of comparable size, according to milk dealers’ statements. The only places where milk was sold at a lower price were smaller communities where the price was governed by special circumstances, the protest added. The dealers stated further that Jamestown had an unsurpassed public health rate which indicated the local milk supply was the best obtainable.

In 1963, the heat wave which covered the state of New York broke with a vengeance the previous day when violent rain and thunderstorms left two persons dead, 14 injured and scores homeless. More than 1,000 homes in the Buffalo area were flooded. Buffalo was the hardest hit with 3.37 inches of rain drenching Western New York. Police rowboats were called out to assist the evacuation of several families in the south side and southern suburbs. Mrs. Stella Dolmatin, 46, of West Seneca, died of electric shock suffered as she apparently attempted to unplug an electric lamp while standing in 18 inches of water in the flooded basement of a neighbor’s home. The homeowners were vacationing in Bermuda and had asked Mrs. Dolmatin to look after their house.

Cattaraugus County’s first polio case in 1963 had been reported, according to Dr. George Bender, county health commissioner. The patient, a teenager, who had not suffered paralysis, had never received Salk shots or Sabin oral vaccine. Dr. Bender stated that though the health department had observed protection levels in Cattaraugus County which were higher than national averages, they were however inadequate for community-wide prevention. Recent additions to the county sanitary code require that all children receive polio protection along with vaccines for diphtheria and whooping cough.

In 1988, thousands of people were expected to walk through Jamestown’s Bergman Park Sunday to get a look at many of the cars they grew up with. “It’s a walk through history as far as automobiles are concerned,” said Russell E. Diethrick, Jr., director of the Jamestown Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Department. The Chautauqua Antique equipment Association would display operating steam and gasoline engines. Local airplane enthusiast Carl Malta would demonstrate a model flying helicopter. There would also be a collection of jukeboxes on display, along with a working calliope for music.

An area minister was coordinating an effort aimed at helping drought-stricken farmers in the Midwest to keep their cattle and farms. The Rev. Bruce W. Swanson of Clymer, pastor of United Methodist churches in Magnolia and Open Meadow, was coordinator for an emergency hay lift operation. He said its objective was to send 50 truckloads of hay from this area to the midwest but he did not know if the goal could be realized.